Stars and Satellites
by Molliewobbles
Summary: When Harry and company are off hunting horcruxes, Luna knows that it's up to her and the rest of the DA to hold down the fort at Hogwarts.  But, that's not as easy as it may seem.  Luna's POV.  NLLL
1. Another Brick In The Wall

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor do I own anything in it, nor do I own Nickelback. If I did, would I be posting this on a fanfiction site?_

_From underneath the trees, we watch the sky  
Confusing stars for satellites  
I never dreamed that you'd be mine  
But here we are, we're here tonight  
If everyone cared and nobody cried,  
If everyone loved and nobody lied,  
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride,  
We'd see the day, when nobody died  
And in the air the fireflies  
Our only light in paradise  
We'll show the world they were wrong  
And teach them all to sing along_

_-__If Everyone Cared__ by Nickelback_

Luna ran, her unshod feet slapping against the hard stone floor of Hogwarts and reverberating loudly throughout the Dark Arts corridor. Behind her, she could hear the loud shouting of jinxes flying everywhere. To her right, she could see Neville, panting heavily and beginning to lag behind the rest of the fleeing rebels. In a sudden whirl of blue light and black robes, Neville was on the ground, screaming and writhing in agony. Luna broke from the pack and ran to Neville's side. She gripped his waist and struggled to pull him to his feet. She was about to ask Neville if he was all right, when—

"STUPEFY!"

Luna felt the hard stone floor pressing against her hip when she awoke, and slowly opened her eyes to see where she was. It was clearly a room in Hogwarts, but certainly not one she had every entered. The cracks between the stone were filled with slimy black moss and the floor beneath her was cracked and coated in a good inch of filth. At least the Blibbering Humdingers that had recently inhabited her matted hair would now have somewhere nicer to live. She slowly got to her feet to explore the parts of the room that had not been visible from her position on the floor. She turned around, and saw that Neville was lying slumped on the ground, feet away from where she had lain moments ago. She saw, to her shock, that Neville looked as if he had had a rather bad run-in with an Umgubular Slashkilter. She knelt down to see if he was all right. He was clearly unconscious—he had probably been hit with more than one stunning spell— and he had quite a few small cuts all over. His breath was coming in ragged gasps, but she had seen times where both of them had been through much worse. Luna sat and watched Neville as his breathing began to come easier and easier, until he could have just been taking an afternoon nap. She thought about all they had been through in the past few hours—the bust by the Death Eaters into the Room of Requirement, the duel, the Death Eaters' call for backup, and the D.A.'s desperate flee. They would certainly have to more careful with wording their requirements in the future, to be sure no Death Eaters would catch them again. Letting her mind wander, Luna noticed the way that Neville's lips moved up and down with his every breath, and how his mousy brown hair fluttered a few millimeters every time her breath stirred the air.

Neville's eyelids flickered slightly, then opened. His deep blue eyes scanned the room, resting for a moment on Luna's and then stopped, staring at a spot a few yards to Luna's right. They widened and froze in an expression of shock. Luna whipped her head around, and saw the dopey grin of Vincent Crabbe. He raised his wand, and, with his mouth stretching into an even wider smile, shouted, "CRUCIO"!

Pain beyond pain. The luminous blue ray of light burned into her eyes, blinding her. She could hear an explosion, a woman's scream, and the sobs of a young girl. She wanted in to stop, but it kept coming. Death would have been better. Every molecule of air bombarded her flesh, every nerve in her body screamed of the overload. Screaming with the intensity of a dozen sirens in her ears, she could her the endless, agonizing shouts of, "CRUCIO! CRUCIO! CRUCIO!" The cold ground froze her skin to a temperature that must have been below absolute zero, the heat of the curse burning into her chest, hotter than the deepest pits of Hell.

Eventually, the pain eased. Luna could open her eyes without the dim light scorching her, and could stand without her muscles screaming from every minute movement. She saw that Neville was standing by the wall and plucking the ghoulish moss from the crevices between the stones. Wondering what he was doing, she slowly moved her lips, and managed to form a single word, "Wazzat?" Neville jumped, dropping the slime that had been clustered in his hand.

"Oh, you're feeling better," he said, smiling while his hands continued to shake like branches in a hurricane. "They hit you pretty hard. You haven't moved in a few hours. After they left, I noticed the moss that's growing here is a kind that can help soothe and heal cuts, so it could be pretty useful." Neville's mumbling became difficult to understand as he groped around on the floor searching for the bits of moss he gathered.

"Good," was the longest response Luna could muster. She closed her eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.

Luna awoke to the feeling of a hard punch in the middle of her face. A dozen teenage Death Eaters were in the room. Draco was standing over her, his right arm still clenched into a tight fist. The other Death Eaters were surrounding him, guffawing. Goyle was punching Neville over and over while Crabbe restrained him.

"Hey Loony, I don't see any Crumple-headed Snakacks coming to your rescue now. Why not? Maybe because they're just a figment of your retarded mind?" Malfoy sneered, while his cronies burst into peals of hysterical laughter. As they continued to taunt her, she leapt up and kicked Malfoy, and saw his eyes widening in surprise. She grabbed Neville's arm and wrenched him away from Crabbe. She ran, and thought of nothing, not of the incredible stupidity of what she had just done, not of what she would do next, not even noticing the hexes chasing her through the hallways. She ran until she collapsed, deep in the Forbidden Forest, Neville alongside her.

**A/N: **Thanks to Al (Author of Seven / teenage-dirtbag007) for helping me come up with the idea for this story. Please leave comments so that I can know how to improve! I will give you a cookie, too!


	2. Escape

_Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter. I certainly hope you could figure that out, considering I'm writing about a sunken ship._

**A/N:** Major Neville/Luna cuteness in this one! I nearly squeed myself while writing it. I hope I did a good job of keeping them in character, and please let me know what you think!

_The moon is shining bright  
The mood is feeling right  
I'll kiss you on your neck  
People will stare but we won't care.  
We're high above the ground  
We're nowhere to be found  
Empowered by adrenaline,  
Feel I've been born again._

_-__Damn Regret__ by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus_

Luna felt like she would never be able to walk again. Her legs ached and trembled if she put an ounce of weight on them. Neville's nose was bleeding profusely, and she could see that he was blotting his nose with the gray muck he had gathered earlier. They were certainly in a sticky pickle here. They couldn't apparate on the grounds (not to mention, neither of them were particularly adept at it,) and without wands they couldn't disguise themselves.

Peering through the dim, dappled light of the Forest, she could she a pair of faintly glowing white eyes creeping slowly closer.

"Neville, what's that over there?" She asked, pointing towards the eyes.

"I dummo."

Luna watched the disembodied eyes until she could discern the black, horselike creature they belonged to.

"It's a thestral!" she shouted joyously. "It must have smelled your blood."

With that, she approached the beast, holding out her balled hand for it to sniff. It nibbled slightly at her knuckles, then exhaled loudly. Luna unclenched her fist and slid her hand down the slick, almost scaly neck of the creature until she reached its shoulder blades. She clutched the hair of its mane with her left hand and placed her right on its croup, and in a swift flurry of motion, she was astride the beast. "Neville," she called, "come and hop on! We need to get away from Hogwarts."

Reluctantly Neville obliged and sat behind Luna. Without any hesitation, he linked his arms around her waist.

"Lucky there aren't any Wrackspurts around, eh? They'd scare the hell out of the critter." Luna looked back towards Neville and smiled her distracted smile.

Luna nudged the monster with her heels, and it was off in an instant. The sudden motion of its wings sent Neville jerking backwards and blinking in surprise. The thestral's enormous, batlike wings carried them swiftly over the thick trees that cast a dark gloom over the forest, and into the blinding light of day. They soared past the river, over the endless expanse of Scottish countryside. After a few minutes of uneventful travel, Luna turned completely around on the thestral's back, so that she was facing Neville. She set her legs on the base on the animal's wings, and leaned back on the creature's neck. With the air of sitting in the common room and discussing the latest Transfiguration assignment, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Neville, I like you," she said, sounding like she had just told him what she planned on having for lunch tomorrow.

"Whud?"

Mistaking his confusion for an inability to hear due to the wind rushing past his ears, she repeated her statement.

"NEVILLE, I LIKE YOU."

A somewhat confused grin broke over Neville's chubby face.

"Really?"

"Yes. I could tell you liked me, and I thought you'd like to know my opinion," she said, in her matter-of-fact way.

With that, Luna turned around and resumed guiding the thestral in whatever direction she was steering towards. Neville replaced his arms around her waist, leaned forward, and rested his head on her shoulder, his cheek touching hers.

Looking down from her view upon the thestral, Luna could see a wide, dense expanse of forest to the right. Leaning in closer to the creature's serpentine neck, she urged it to descend. She felt a fluttering in her stomach, a combination of the steep decline the thestral had reached, and of her relief and finally telling Neville how she felt. She hadn't been worried about his reaction, for it had been clear to her how he had felt for quite some time by the way that Neville looked at her. Not to mention, if he had rejected her, she really wouldn't have minded, things like that just didn't bug her. It hadn't been finding an opportunity to talk to him, either; she could turn any situation into a chance to say something. Come to think of it, she really had no idea why she had felt so nervous. Her anxiety had just been silly and pointless, as most anxieties are.

Before Luna knew it, the thestral had reached the treetops. With a great deal of pokes and scratches from the branches, they lighted down. Neville dismounted first, stumbling while his stiff legs caught up with the sudden weight being forced upon them. Neville held out his arm for Luna to grasp while she dismounted. She stepped down with the air of a queen being escorted down from her magnificent white steed. She leaned over and quickly placed a kiss on Neville's cheek. Neville blushed, rubbing the spot where her lips had touched him. Luna then strolled over to a secluded spot of the forest, lay down, and fell immediately into a deep slumber.

Later that night, Luna tried desperately to start a fire. Neville had gathered a quantity of edible plants and fungi for their dinner, but none had been particularly appetizing raw. So, remembering the muggle movies that her mother had been quite fond of, she imitated the "injuns" and vigorously rubbed two sticks together. All that she had succeeded in doing so far was wearing out her arms. Eventually, she resigned herself to the fact that she would have made a horrible Witch Scout. Holding her nose so that the flavor would not be as strong, she bit into an odd, purple-colored vegetable. Once she had eaten enough to feel sated (and quite queasy,) she drifted toward a tree, where a small creature had caught her eye. She stuck her index finger in front of the small insect, and coaxed it onto her finger.

"Neville, come look," she whispered, "I've found an Eeking Floop!"

Neville, stifling a laugh when he heard the name of the creature, plodded towards Luna, wondering what exactly an 'Eeking Floop' was.

"Luna, that's not an Eeking Floop, that's just a Praying Mantis."

"Aah, but that's just its' disguise," she explained, pale eyes widening, "They look like other animals so that people will leave them alone. If you look really closely, you can see that it has two little brown dots above its eyes, that's what gives it away. They're such copycats because people used to grind them up in potions, since they have such amazing transforming properties. They can change their appearance whenever they want, but they always have those brown spots."

"Oh, I understand," replied Neville. He didn't want to bother trying to question Luna's odd creatures.

They spent the rest of the day just trying not to be bored. Luna had invited Neville to a game of tag, and was reveling in the joy of running just to run, instead of desperately trying to escape Death Eaters. However, Neville wasn't very speedy, so she frequently had to slow down to give him a chance to catch her.

Once Neville had tired of chase, Luna lay down in a barren section on the forest, cushioned by the dense blanket of leaves. She closed her eyes and took in the smell of the forest. The clove-like aroma of the dried leaves mingled with the smells of earth and of wood. Neville lay beside her, and placed his arm around her shoulder. She opened her gray eyes and cast them towards the star-speckled sky. She preferred picturing her own constellations to the ones you could learn about from textbooks. Tonight, she could a foreboding-looking Dark Mark, a rabbit, and an apple. Motioning towards a trio of stars at her left, she asked Neville, "What do you think those stars look like?"

After Neville stared for a minute, he answered, "I think one of them is one of those muggle flying machines."

Luna squinted her eyes and watched the suspect star suspiciously. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Neville's lips met hers, and time seemed lost as they kissed.

**A/N:** Please leave feedback! Reviews are something that brightens my day, and it encourages me to write more!


	3. Get Your Riot Gear

_Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling probably owns me._

**A/N: Today is Neville Appreciation Day! Have you hugged Neville today? Appreciate him! NOW!!**

_She is strong but never silent,  
Sure of where her truth comes from.  
One day, one girl army will overcome._

_-__One Girl Army__ by Five Iron Frenzy_

Morning came far too early. It would've been nice if the songbirds would keep their beaks shut until eleven o'clock or so, but this was not the case. Once the first rays of sunlight filtered through the trees, and the first bird sang its praise for the sun, Luna moaned and slowly opened her eyes. Neville was snoring loudly next to her, and she figured that there was no need to wake him up. She snatched up two large sticks and meandered towards the pile of twigs that she had gathered the night before. Sitting down resolutely, she resumed her fruitless efforts to create a fire.

Once the sun's light had fully permeated the forest and the countless melodies of the birds wove together into one overpoweringly sonorous chorus, Neville roused from his slumber.

"Morning, Sleepyhead," Luna called.

"G'night," was his reply.

Luna abandoned her futile task and decided that prodding Neville was a much more profitable use of the sticks.

"OW!" Neville's shout reverberated throughout the forest, and, for a moment, the birds were too frightened to continue their refrain.

"C'mon, it must be near noon already!"

Neville threw a well-placed kick at Luna's shin. Wincing and rubbing her leg, Luna grabbed a firm hold on Neville's arm and yanked him into a sitting position.

"Why do I have to get up?" he groaned.

"Because we need to find a way to get out of here," Luna replied.

---------------------------------------------

Luna and Neville plodded on in the direction that, according to Luna's questionable direction-guessing method of believing that moss grew on the north side of a tree, was south. They had been walking for hours, seeing nothing but endless rows of corn. Far in the distance, they could see the hazy outline of a farmhouse.

"Do you think we should ask them for help?" Luna inquired.

"There's no way we could, Luna!" was Neville's exasperated reply, "How do you think a bunch of muggles would react to a pair of beat-up, barefoot teenagers wearing robes, _robes _for Chrissake, and asking how to get to the nearest castle showing up at their door? We'd be stuck in a loony bin before I could say "wizard!"

"Oh, right," Luna scowled, then cringed as another pebble met a tender part of her foot.

---------------------------------------------

After three days of walking though the seemingly infinite farmland, Neville and Luna reached the Forbidden Forest.

"Finally!" Neville rejoiced in being so close to their destination. Luna simply smiled. Throughout their travelling, Luna had seemed to be in a world of her own, and it often took her a few minutes to respond to anything Neville said.

Together, they trekked through the forest, following paths laid by thestrals and equally disconcerting creatures. The narrow trails often led to dead ends like a small pond or a thicket where the mysterious creatures would bed down at night. The pair would be forced to turn around, or risk a horrible foot injury from some unknown plant that grew below. After they had wandered countless paths that seemed to lead them nowhere closer to Hogwarts, they eventually glimpsed the magnificent, battlement-topped towers. Upon catching sight of the imposing building, Luna promptly sat down. Neville joined her. They both understood that they would have to lay low until night, when they could sneak into the castle unnoticed. Luna took great interest in a caterpillar that was crawling across the branch of a dead bug, and Neville began absently shredding leaves.

Once dawn was waiting eagerly on horizon to make her appearance and even the crickets had ceased to chirp, Luna and Neville finally stirred. They moved swiftly out of the forest, and towards the school. They were approaching the greenhouses, and Neville began to lead Luna towards Greenhouse 1. Neville had asserted that there was a passageway through the greenhouse that led to Professor Sprout's office. The greenhouse door wasn't locked, as it seemed rather pointless at a school where most first years could cast Alohomora. Neville seemed in his element as he walked purposefully past the rows of plants and towards a well-concealed door that was coated in a layer of deep green vines. His hand reached through the vines and grasped for the doorknob. Opening the door an inch at a time, the familiar musty smell of Hogwarts washed over them. Taking one slow, carefully measured step at a time, Neville entered the room, Luna following close behind. Through the darkness, Luna could barely discern an unoccupied desk that seemed to contain more potted plants than it did writing space. Creeping cautiously forward, Neville reached the door that led to the halls of Hogwarts.

The corridor was, blessedly, empty. The pair crept past numerous vacant classrooms and into the mammoth entrance hall. Running swiftly, they reached the staircase, and ascended at a jog until they had reached the seventh floor. Slowing to a hurried walk, they followed the corridor until they arrived at the portrait of tap-dancing trolls. Pacing back and forth through the hall, thinking, _'I need the place where the D.A. is meeting,' _their tensions mounted as they worried about the possibility that there no longer _was_ a D.A.

On their fourth passing, the wooden door appeared. The expression of worry on Neville's face disappeared, washed over with relief. They bounded towards the door, anxious to see their friends. They were greeted by the sound of wizard rock music pounding their eardrums. A red-haired girl turned her head, and emitted as shout of jubilation at seeing the newcomers.

"Neville, Luna! Oh, we were so worried about you, where've you been?" Ginny chatted excitedly, though her words were a little slurred and her face ruddy. She shoved bottles of firewhiskey into their hands. "We been celebrating Colin's birthday. He just turned seventeen today, so he celebrated by bringing everyone lotsa of firewhiskey from the Hog's Head."

Once people caught notice of their return, a large crowd had gathered around the pair, everyone asking what had happened. Luna eagerly recounted the story, taking frequent swigs of whiskey in between sentences. Once she began a detailed description of the Eeking Floop, Neville cut across her and completed the tale.

After the crowd had dispersed, Luna wandered through the room, looking serene even as she hiccuped and stumbled over the empty whiskey bottles that littered the floor. She made her was to an empty hammock at sat contentedly, watching the party and gulping firewhiskey. She rather liked firewhiskey, the way it tickled her throat as it went down, and the hazy feeling she got after drinking a copious amount. She liked it almost as much as crumple-horned snorkacks. Come to think of it, she also liked Neville a lot. He was standing right over there, talking with Dean Thomas. She wondered what they might be talking about. She made her way towards him, and tripped over one of the Patil twins. She giggled, righted herself, and proceeded towards him.

Luna jumped up, wrapping her arms around Neville's neck. Neville staggered, for he hadn't been expecting this at all. Luna leaned her head forward, her alcohol-scented breath filling Neville's nose. She kissed him, unstopping, for minutes. When the broke away, she cast her always-dreamy eyes at Neville, and murmured unblinkingly, "Neville, I love you."

Neville grinned dorkily and kissed her again.

---------------------------------------------

An hour later, Luna was trying desperately to convince anyone she could find that the Rotfang Conspiracy was a far more serious issue than the Death Eater's takeover of Hogwarts.

"Luna, what the fuck are you even talking about?" shouted Ginny angrily, "The 'conspiracy' doesn't even exist!"

"Yes, it does! And anyway, you seem like you don't even consider gum disease to be a serious problem!"

"That's because it _isn't, _dumbass! You care more about 'wrackspurts' than you do about saving Hogwarts!"

"What the hell? Excuse me, but I believe I'm the one who's been locked up, tortured several times, camped without so much as a wand, and spent the last four days walking barefoot to get here!"

"Are you implying that I haven't made any sacrifices for the D.A.?" Ginny screeched, her brown eyes narrowed to slits. At this point, the room had fallen silent, every set of eyes turned towards the two furious girls.

"Maybe I am!"

"Well, fine then! If I'm so useless, then fuck this shit! FUCK YOU, LUNA! FUCK YOU ALL!" Ginny stormed out of the room, the crowd parting as she exited. Once the door had shut, the crowd stared at Luna.

"Shit," she whispered, eyes more watery than normal, "what have I done?"

---------------------------------------------

**A/N: **I decided it should be Colin's birthday, because even if he was a bit obnoxious, he was unwaveringly loyal to Harry. He needed to have a "going away party," so to speak. –sob- Rest in peace, Colin.

Please leave comments! I'll give you a cookie if you do!


End file.
